Stripping insulation is not just removing the covering -- it is removing it without taking any of the conductor with it.
A nicked solid conductor or a bundle with cut strands is a weak point you have manufactured and then hidden inside a termination. It works on the day. It is a failure waiting for load and time.
Look at the two ends side by side. A clean strip leaves every strand full length and the copper unmarked. A bad one leaves a notch in solid copper, or strands cut short and splayed. That notch reduces the cross-section at one point, and reduced cross-section at one point is a hot spot under load -- the same relationship as the conductor-area lesson, concentrated into a few millimetres.
Check yourself: You strip a conductor and see strands have been cut. Do you terminate it and move on?
Answer: No. A damaged conductor end needs correction under the approved work method.
A cut strand is conductor removed from a circuit that was sized to include it. The remaining strands carry what all of them were meant to, at the exact point where the damage is.
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Written from the owner's poster for this lesson. Nothing added beyond what the poster states.
Written for Texas apprentices as free study material. The Texas apprentice licence is an application, not an exam (Occupations Code 1305.161), and nothing here counts as apprenticeship hours or continuing-education credit. VoltMark is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NFPA, PSI, TDLR, or any state or local licensing authority. Always follow your employer's safety programme and your supervising electrician.
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